1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to electrosurgical instruments for selectively providing electrical energy from an electrosurgical generator to a patient for searing and coagulating tissue and the like and, more particularly, it relates to electrosurgical instruments for selectively providing electrical energy from an electrosurgical generator to a patient for searing and coagulating tissue and the like which further provides evacuation of the plume associated with the searing and coagulating of the tissue and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With known prior art electrocautery devices, a plume, as it is referred to by persons skilled in the art, is created during surgery by the vaporization of organic material (i.e., the tissue of the patient) which has been ablated by the electric current of the electrocautery device. It is widely known in the medical field that the plume created during electrosurgery is offensive and potentially dangerous to the surgeons and other operating room staff The high temperature plume, which rises rapidly from the point of the electrosurgical instrument, has been shown to contain possible carcinogenic elements. In fact, of particular significance and concern, it has been discovered that the plume produced by electrosurgical incisions and cauterizations potentially contain and transport viable viral DNA. The viruses transmitted by the plume present a significant health hazard to the operating surgeon and others present in the operating room. In addition to the health hazards to operating personnel, sometimes the plume is produced in such volume that the surgeon's view of the operative field is obscured thereby placing the patient at substantial risk.
In the prior art, systems have been developed for aspirating the plume produced by electrocautery devices in electrosurgical procedures. In the typical technique, the plume is aspirated by a conventional hospital suction tube held near the site of electrosurgical procedure by an assistant. Unfortunately, this method inefficiently requires the full-time attention of the assistant and the placement of the often bulky suction tube in the operative field obstructs the operating surgeon's view. Additionally, since conventional suction tubes create substantial noise levels in the operating room coupled with the fact that the suction tubes operate on a continuous basis during surgery, the suction tubes interfere with normal operating room dialogue thereby potentially causing miscommunications and misunderstandings between the operating room surgeon and the operating room staff.
Systems have been developed in an attempt to overcome the disadvantages described above. In particular, the August, U.S. Pat. No. 2,808,833, the Seiger, U.S. Pat. No. 2,888,928, and the Forintos, U.S. Pat. No. 4,686,981, describe surgical instruments having suction devices attached thereto. Specifically, the August patent and the Forintos patent describe suction devices for the express purpose of withdrawing excess blood or bodily fluids prior to coagulating the remaining vessels. The Seiger patent describes a coagulating surgical instrument which includes a plurality of suction openings disposed at right angles with respect to the longitudinal axis of the cautery tip. The suction of the Seiger patent's surgical instrument operates in an area which is not immediately adjacent to the coagulating area, thus, not effectively producing the desired plume evacuation result. Furthermore, since the suction of the Seiger patent is operating continually, the noise of the suction device further impedes communication among the surgical team.
There are other known plume and tissue removal systems integrated with electrosurgical instruments, such as described in the Olsen, U.S. Pat. No. 5,055,100 and the Johnson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,719,914. Although the Olsen patent and the Johnson patent describe electrocautery devices having a suction passage adjacent the cutting end of the electrocautery device, the particular construction of each of these devices result in increased difficulty for the surgeons during operations. In particular, the devices are limited by their structure to removing only the plume which is immediately adjacent the inlet of the suction tube opening. Also, the construction of the devices render the vacuum suction tube closely adjacent the tip of the blade which actually generates the plume. Thus, the plume or the suction tube itself obscures the surgical field from the view of the surgeon. Furthermore, in the Olsen patent and the Johnson patent, it is not possible to effectively remove the plume since the suction tubes are intended for primarily removing bodily fluids and tend to clog with the removed bodily fluids. Therefore, due to the ineffectiveness of the Olsen patent and the Johnson patent in failing to remove the plume, the importance of effectively removing the plume created by the electrocautery device from the surgical fields remains.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a self-evacuating electrocautery device which effectively removes the plume created during surgical operations to minimize health hazards to the operating surgeons and the other operating staff.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a self-evacuating electrocautery device which effectively removes the plume created during surgical operations and which does not unduly interfere with the operating surgeon's field of view.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a self-evacuating electrocautery device which effectively removes the plume created during surgical operations and which activates a vacuum to remove the plume only during activation of the electrocautery device.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a self-evacuating electrocautery device which effectively removes the plume created during surgical operations and which does not interfere with the operating surgeons use of the electrocautery device as an electrosurgical instrument.